Two of a Kind | Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 12: I'm a Monster

The whole ride back to the compound was spent in an uncomfortable silence. Natasha sat up in the pilot's seat while Steve and Sam sat in the back together. Wanda sat alone, curled up in the corner, silently crying at the destruction she had caused. It was her fault; her fault that so many people died. She was a monster.

No one had the words to comfort her. It was like Ultron all over again, and that pained Steve. Over the past year, he had taken Wanda under his wing and kind of adopted her as a little sister, and he hated to see her upset. He rose from his seat next to Sam and made his way to the back of the Quinjet, sitting beside Wanda. He didn't speak as he placed an arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. Wanda in turn, wrapped her arms around Steve's torso and cried into his uniform. Neither of them said anything, he just let Wanda cry on his shoulder as he looked straight ahead, occasionally glancing at Sam to see him staring at them with sadness in his eyes.

Sam didn't know Wanda that well since she didn't live in the compound anymore, but he also hated seeing her upset. He turned his head away from the two of them and stood, walking towards the front of the jet, sitting in the co-pilot's seat.

"How much longer?" he asked Natasha in a quiet voice that was unlike him.

"Not much. Maybe another two hours," the redhead said, her voice void of any expression. Her gaze was focused straight ahead of them, staring into the open sky.

"I can't take this...this quiet...it's too much," Sam said after another minute of silence. Natasha glanced at him; eyebrow raised in question.

"What do you want to talk about, Wilson?" she asked as she moved her eyes back to the sky. Sam shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know, but I can't take it back there. It's too quiet and I hate the sound of the kid crying." Natasha tensed at the mention of Wanda crying. She felt herself grow angry at Sam's words.

"You do realize that she's deeply hurt, right? That she single handedly caused the deaths of all those people? I think she has a right to cry," Natasha said, keeping her voice quiet but harsh. She didn't want Wanda to hear them talking about her, though she was sure she already knew.

"I didn't mean it like that," Sam said putting up his hands in defense. "I get that she's upset and I feel for her. I only meant that...," he paused. "I don't know what I meant."

"I get it," Natasha said sighing in defeat. "It was like this after Ultron, you know. The same silence, the same crying. It was heartbreaking. No one knew what to do or what to say, and I think that hurts the most; seeing someone in so much emotional pain, and not being able to do anything about it."

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Jemma paced around the living room of the apartment, feeling the familiar dread and anxiety creep up on her. Her palms started sweating and she felt like she was about to break down and cry. The fear gnawed at her as she waited for her phone to ring and flash with Wanda's name and number. She was immediately brought back to Ultron and how she felt waiting for Lily's call that never came, and the uneasiness took hold of her, almost prompting her to call Wanda just so she could hear her voice telling her everything was okay and that she was fine just so Jemma could stop worrying.

And that's what she did. She picked up her phone off the island and dialed Wanda's number and pressed the phone to her ear as she heard it ring. The worrying she felt only grew with each ring as she didn't pick up right away. Maybe she's in the middle of the mission. Maybe she's sleeping. Maybe she lost her phone. Or maybe she was hurt or dead. Jemma shook her head at the negative thoughts when she heard the sound of someone picking up.